Honor is important in the Fire Nation.
Blackmail is… frowned upon.
Getting Ursa pardoned was surprisingly easy.
It was the only easy thing Iroh would be doing in a long, long time.
…-…
"So…" Aang said, "I got a Waterbending teacher."
He nodded to Katara, who smiled. "I got a Firebending teacher." He nodded to Zuko who went a very interesting shade of red.
"I never agreed to that!" Aang ignored this. Zuko had agreed- he just didn't know it yet.
"I was wondering if you would come with me to find an Earthbending teacher?"
"Well," Sokka said, "We did promise to go with you all the way. And I'm a man of my word."
His chest puffed out as he said it. Which obviously had nothing to do with Yue walking by. She giggled, smiling at him.
He smiled back.
Zuko elbowed him in the ribs.
He glared. Zuko looked incredibly unrepentant. "You should really pay more attention to your surroundings." He said.
Sokka watched him for a long moment. Fine. He could say that now. But soon- Sokka would get him. Zuko would never see the surprise attack coming. Because it would be a surprise.
…-…
Hakoda insisted on coming with them. Something about not leaving children to fend for themselves and the war being somewhat over…
Zuko wasn't exactly comfortable with the older man.
Still… he made Katara and Sokka happy.
Zuko didn't protest.
Much.
…-…
The Northern Air Temple was... different.
Aang hadn't wanted it to change. He hadn't wanted anything to change.
Still... these people were, in their own way, preserving Air nomad culture. The freedom of it.
Aang could appreciate that.
...-...
Zuko handed out the you are no longer required to make the Fire Nation weapons letter out discretely.
...-...
The swamp was… strange. Zuko did not appreciate seeing a much younger and smiling version of his father.
It was… disturbing. Especially since he kept getting flashbacks of his father's corpse.
Still. The Waterbenders were… somewhat interesting.
…-…
Aang went through one day of Earthbending school. One day! That wasn't how it worked- you didn't just get to… to decide that you didn't like your teacher and find a new one!
Not unless you were Azula anyways…
"You can't just give up!" Zuko was shouting. He didn't care much.
"I'm not giving up," Aang said, "I'm just… going in a new direction. Approaching Earthbending from another angle you know?"
Zuko had actually listened to Uncle's lessons on the other elements. That'd been to defeat the Avatar but he figured information could be used both ways and… that didn't really seem to be the right way to approach Eartbending. Still.
"So you plan to find a teacher in an Earth Kingdom Fight Club?" Zuko asked.
"Yep!" Aang said.
He was entirely to happy about the whole thing.
The worst part was that only Hakoda seemed to agree with Zuko.
…-…
Beifong.
Of course she had to be a Beifong.
Well… it was better than some things…
A/N: And that's the end! I might write a sequel with the Da Li later... but if I do it will be attached to this story cause of the way this site works. Anywho... if you liked it leave a smiley face!
Or a comment.
Or nothing.
Really, its up to you.
Thanks for reading!